LANSING - Attorney General Bill Schuette today praised a
significant ruling from the Michigan Supreme Court which found marijuana
dispensaries can be shut down under Michigan's public nuisance law. The 4-1
ruling virtually prohibits all retail marijuana sales. The Court ruled that
sales or transfers of medical marijuana beyond those permitted for the narrow
universe of registered caregivers and their connected five patients violate the
Michigan Medical Marijuana Act (MMMA).

The case arose
from
Schuette and Isabella County Prosecutor Larry Burdick's challenge to a
for-profit scheme of marijuana sales among patients at a Mount Pleasant
marijuana dispensary, Compassionate Apothecary. The ruling now stands as
statewide precedent for all other lower court cases and carries immediate
effect.

The
Michigan Supreme Court ruled Compassionate Apothecary is in violation of the
MMMA in State of Michigan v. Brandon McQueen and Matthew Taylor, d/b/a
Compassionate Apothecary, LLC. The Court concluded that:

The MMMA does not legalize marijuana;

The MMMA does not permit marijuana
dispensaries;

The MMMA prohibits unrestricted retail
sales of marijuana;

The "medical use" of marijuana under the
MMMA limits marijuana transfers or sales to a registered caregiver
and that caregiver's five registered qualifying patients, as
connected through the State's medical marijuana registry;

The MMMA does not offer immunity to a
registered qualifying patient who sells or transfers marijuana to
another registered qualifying patient; and,

The MMMA does not offer immunity to a
registered primary caregiver who sells or transfers marijuana to
anyone other than a registered qualifying patient to whom the
caregiver is connected through the State's medical marijuana
registry.

In today's ruling, the
Michigan Supreme Court concluded:

Because the
business model of defendants' dispensary relies entirely on transactions that do
not comply with the MMMA, defendants are operating their business in "[a]
building . . . used for the unlawful . . . keeping for sale . . . or
furnishing of a controlled substance," and the plaintiff is entitled to an
injunction enjoining the continuing operation of the business because it is a
public nuisance.(pp. 21-22)

"Today Michigan's highest Court clarified that this law is narrowly focused to
help the seriously ill, not an open door to unrestricted retail marijuana
sales," said Schuette. "Dispensaries will have to close their doors. Sales or
transfers between patients or between caregivers and patients other than their
own are not permitted under the Medical Marijuana Act."

Schuette will send a letter to Michigan's 83 county prosecutors explaining that
the ruling clearly empowers them to close dispensaries and include instructions
on how to file similar nuisance actions to close dispensaries in their own
counties.

In March 2011, Schuette joined Isabella County Prosecutor Larry Burdick in the
case. The Isabella
County prosecutor's office sought to have Compassionate Apothecary, a medical
marijuana club owned by Mt. Pleasant residents Brandon McQueen and Matthew
Taylor, declared a public nuisance and closed on the grounds its activities
violated the MMMA. Burdick and Schuette argued the marijuana dispensary
violated the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA)
by allowing profits from medical marijuana sales, in addition to
patient-to-patient marijuana transactions, and the possession of medical
marijuana in excess of legal limits by the club owners. The club allowed
patient-to-patient sales of marijuana, with the club profiting by taking a 20%
commission.